Italian school; XVIII century.

Italian school; XVIII century.
"Christ crucified".
Gilded bronze and iron base.
Measurements: 29 x 20 x 9 cm; 49 x 20 cm (base).
In this devotional sculpture of the Crucified, the modeling of the forms follow a classic canon of balanced anatomy that transmits an immutable beauty, responding to a concept of aesthetic serenity according to the Italian school. We are before a school ascribed to the classicist baroque, far from the dramatism of the dominant baroque. The polished finish of the gilded bronze and the sinuous line that draws the body (already relaxed, after the last breath) impregnate it with a contained pathos. A balanced and perfectly studied anatomy denotes the artistic ability of the sculptor, who reflects like no one else the suffering that Christ endured in his last seconds of life.
Crucifixions and crucifixes have appeared in the history of art and popular culture since before the era of the pagan Roman Empire. The crucifixion of Jesus has been depicted in religious art since the 4th century. It is one of the most recurrent themes in Christian art and the one with the most obvious iconography. Although Christ is sometimes depicted clothed, it is usual to represent his naked body, albeit with the genitals covered with a purity cloth (perizonium); full nudes are very rare, but prominent (Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, Cellini). The conventions of representation of the different attitudes of the crucified Christ are designated by the Latin expressions Christus triumphans ("triumphant" -not to be confused with the Maiestas Domini or the Pantocrator-), Christus patiens ("resigned" -not to be confused with the Christ of patience-) and Christus dolens ("suffering" -not to be confused with the Vir dolorum-). The triumphans is represented alive, with open eyes and erect body; the patiens is represented dead, with the will totally emptied (kenosis), the head inclined, the face with serene expression, the eyes closed and the body arched, showing the five wounds; the dolens is represented in a similar way to the patiens, but with a gesture of pain, particularly in the mouth (curved).